4.22.2010

The Ladies Luncheon at Madame Sportif’s

This past Monday I attended a ladies luncheon at Madame Sportif’s home. I was quite thrilled to accept the invitation because there is nothing I love more than a ladies lunch and I love to meet new people. Also, having viewed the guest list prior to coming I discerned that several of these women were of French and/or international descent- thus adding to my repertoire of fabulous ladies from which to draw inspiration from.

I wore my silk, flowy Rebecca Taylor blouse in graphite (about the only nice article of clothing I have left that still fits me at 6 months pregnant), leggings and my favorite black satin ballet flats with gold trim.

There were six of us in total. Two French ladies, one Dutch lady who had lived in France for 13 years, a Chinese lady, an Iranian lady and me. All of the women were gorgeous- we were like the United Nations of Santa Monica!

Madame Sportif immediately provided us with a refreshment upon arrival- an almond drink comprised of almond syrup, ice and mineral water. It was light and refreshing. Then we all gathered around the table and ate our starter course: baked prunes wrapped in bacon. The main course consisted of lamb chops with ratatouille, followed by a salad with a selection of three cheeses: camembert, brie and Roquefort. And for dessert- a chocolate mousse with strawberries.

I must admit I was slightly nervous to attend the luncheon… after all Madame Sportif was the only lady I actually knew- but they were all very warm and welcoming towards me. We spent nearly three hours at that table, eating the delicious courses provided for us and chatting and talking about the differences between our cultures.

Various topics of conversation included the sacredness of language- where in France it is guarded with lock and key and where in America it is blatantly misused with frequent rapidity; the friendliness of our cultures (they all said how friendly Americans are- how laid back, how familiar), the remarkable fact that the lady from Holland was 6’1’’, with blond hair and the body of a supermodel and ate loads of bread everyday! The French ladies chimed in that they too eat bread on a regular basis (I have always known that bread is not evil- they happily proved me right), and various amusing observations about our husbands (for example, the Iranian lady suspects that her husband pretends to be clueless at cooking so that he never has to do it and can enjoy her culinary endeavors instead).

I had a lovely time. We laughed a lot and I have to say it was marvelous to meet such a diverse group of beautiful, intelligent women.

Madame Sportif and I have already made arrangements for our next social outing. Next time she will come over to my house for another cooking session… which, of course, I will share with you in minute detail…

Pictured above are my beloved ballet flats by London Sole in black satin with gold trim... perfect footwear for a casual ladies lunch!

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comments:

Sheer delight reading this recounting of a ladies luncheon...love your flats..I have a pair in navy and you can see them at the top right of my blog...they could be related!I hope that there are more French food posts coming, I love them!

that does sound like fun- I went to a drinks reception last week where I knew only one person- I was quite frightened beforehand even though I consider myself to be very confident but actually it was so fun- it's really refreshing to talk to different people rather than the same old ones- however much you like them!

Hello Jennifer,Your flats are lovely. Make the most of those relazed ladies lunches. I had a friend to lunch recently and just before I served the first course, my daughter looked at her and said, 'Why are you so fat?'Sigh. xxps so pleased to read of the sex of your baby. Perfecto!

i love your ballet flats, and it sounds like you had a wonderful time. :) i've been trying more and more to only keep fresh bread in the house from bakeries and the like. it goes stale faster than the preservative-ridden packaged bread i'm used to, but i've been making my own croutons out of the leftovers (which has motivated me to eat more salads). :)

Thank you everyone for your comments. The luncheon was great fun. And Rose is so right... it's wonderful to meet new people every now and then. We all get so comfortable with our friends sometimes being thrust out of your comfort zone can be a good thing! The ballet flats are fab- they are from London Sole. I have at least a dozen different ones. They are my go to shoe... As for other accessories- Big Little Wolf, not much except my medium hoop earrings and a big bright smile! :) Hope you are all well xxx